Levein’s time is up...

[innerjambo]

1 hour ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Under Paulo Sergio, without Skacel, we were hopeless... and only when we signed Beattie did we turn from also-rans into contenders.

 

Under Jim Jefferies, without Kyle, we were hopeless. He got injured; we collapsed.

 

Under Csaba Laszlo, without Aguiar, we were hopeless. He left; we imploded.

 

Between 2006 and 2008, where would we have been without Velicka? 2007/8 was bad enough as it was... without him, we'd have come 11th!

 

Between the mid-80s and mid to late-90s, where would we have been without Robbo? And of course I know we had the likes of JC, Crabbe etc etc too... but it's Robbo who gave them the freedom to shine, just as Naismith gives others the chance to shine now.

 

There is, in other words, nothing new in this. It's actually fairly normal. So were JJ, Paulo and Doddie shite because of our obvious reliance on some of the players above?

 

One other thing. For most of my time following the club, Hearts have been extremely fortunate in who our goalkeepers have been. Smith, Rousset, Niemi, Gordon, Kello, Alexander, McLaughlin... to the point whereby Cup-winning Jamie Mac was slagged off by many, even though he was perfectly solid. 

 

It's that position we need to get sorted above all else. No side will achieve anything without a good goalkeeper - because a bad goalkeeper unsettles the defence and hence, everything else. But it's not as easy as some might imagine to find the right one. To me, that's the number one priority. 

 

Oh well that's alright then. Let's hope Naismith doesn't get injured again eh? Because as you put it, we've always been just a one man team, and the rest are not really worth bothering about. 

[Robbo-Jambo]

1 hour ago, sandylejambo said:

will Craig still be our manager if we don't beat Ross County?

Take more than that for him to be removed. 

 

In fact I would say quite a bit more. 

[It should have been ten]

18 minutes ago, Forever Hearts said:

Still not answering the question. How would you describe our performance up until the substitutions?

 

 

1 hour ago, It should have been ten said:

 

You’re “over it”  Get used to Craig being our manager for a good while yet as well. 

We were decent... far from pathetic. 

 

D E C E N T 

[shaun.lawson]

14 minutes ago, innerjambo said:

 

Oh well that's alright then. Let's hope Naismith doesn't get injured again eh? Because as you put it, we've always been just a one man team, and the rest are not really worth bothering about. 

 

I'm not saying it's OK. I doubt there's a single person on this website who doesn't think we're way way too dependent on one player.

 

All I was doing was contextualising it. Football is much more about players than it'll ever be about managers, however hugely important managers undoubtedly are. And finding quality players with that X-factor we need isn't easy for any club limited in resources.

[shaun.lawson]

13 minutes ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Take more than that for him to be removed. 

 

In fact I would say quite a bit more. 

 

If we don't beat County AND Motherwell knock us out, he'd be toast I reckon. 

 

Motherwell away in the Cup is, I think, the perfect test. Good or decent Hearts sides past that test. Bad sides fail it. 

[The Real Maroonblood]

42 minutes ago, It should have been ten said:

.

 

 

[Robbo-Jambo]

24 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

If we don't beat County AND Motherwell knock us out, he'd be toast I reckon. 

 

Motherwell away in the Cup is, I think, the perfect test. Good or decent Hearts sides past that test. Bad sides fail it. 

Possibly would be the final straw. 

 

Tbh though, nothing would surprise me 🤔

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

32 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

I'm not saying it's OK. I doubt there's a single person on this website who doesn't think we're way way too dependent on one player.

 

All I was doing was contextualising it. Football is much more about players than it'll ever be about managers, however hugely important managers undoubtedly are. And finding quality players with that X-factor we need isn't easy for any club limited in resources.

 

On the flip side, I doubt coaching and tactical nous has ever made more of a difference than it does now.

[innerjambo]

31 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

I'm not saying it's OK. I doubt there's a single person on this website who doesn't think we're way way too dependent on one player.

 

All I was doing was contextualising it. Football is much more about players than it'll ever be about managers, however hugely important managers undoubtedly are. And finding quality players with that X-factor we need isn't easy for any club limited in resources.

 

I hear you, it's pretty worrying all the same, because we don't look good at all without him. To be so reliant on one player, makes us very vulnerable indeed. 

[Robbo-Jambo]

1 minute ago, innerjambo said:

 

I hear you, it's pretty worrying all the same, because we don't look good at all without him. To be so reliant on one player, makes us very vulnerable indeed. 

For any team to be reliant on one guy is just so wrong. 

 

What happens if his knee problems flare up again? 

 

 

[McCrae]

1 hour ago, Pasquale for King said:

Only last week she said the football budget wasn’t affected by the building of the new stand, Levein said it did previously so someone is lying 🤷🏾‍♂️.

 

We  have record turnover, but we are also spending a heck of a lot.....  unless the club budgeted for a massive over spend on the stadium I think the answer is obvious.  The lack of depth in our squad speaks for itself.

[Pasquale for King]

4 minutes ago, McCrae said:

 

We  have record turnover, but we are also spending a heck of a lot.....  unless the club budgeted for a massive over spend on the stadium I think the answer is obvious.  The lack of depth in our squad speaks for itself.

I’m only telling you what she said. As you say we are making more than we’ve ever made and yet the product on the Park is awful, we all know why.

[Pasquale for King]

56 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

I'm not saying it's OK. I doubt there's a single person on this website who doesn't think we're way way too dependent on one player.

 

All I was doing was contextualising it. Football is much more about players than it'll ever be about managers, however hugely important managers undoubtedly are. And finding quality players with that X-factor we need isn't easy for any club limited in resources.

Of course, then good coaching  takes on even more importance. Mulraney said he had to ask the coaches what he had to do to get in the team, they should be telling every player what they need to do to get better. Have you seen the coaches standing around with their hands in their pockets watching training, no paper or IPad taking notes etc. No interaction with the players, same at matches. Compare it to the best, look at Pep. 

[siegementality]

2 hours ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Under Paulo Sergio, without Skacel, we were hopeless... and only when we signed Beattie did we turn from also-rans into contenders.

 

Under Jim Jefferies, without Kyle, we were hopeless. He got injured; we collapsed.

 

Under Csaba Laszlo, without Aguiar, we were hopeless. He left; we imploded.

 

Between 2006 and 2008, where would we have been without Velicka? 2007/8 was bad enough as it was... without him, we'd have come 11th!

 

Between the mid-80s and mid to late-90s, where would we have been without Robbo? And of course I know we had the likes of JC, Crabbe etc etc too... but it's Robbo who gave them the freedom to shine, just as Naismith gives others the chance to shine now.

 

There is, in other words, nothing new in this. It's actually fairly normal. So were JJ, Paulo and Doddie shite because of our obvious reliance on some of the players above?

 

One other thing. For most of my time following the club, Hearts have been extremely fortunate in who our goalkeepers have been. Smith, Rousset, Niemi, Gordon, Kello, Alexander, McLaughlin... to the point whereby Cup-winning Jamie Mac was slagged off by many, even though he was perfectly solid. 

 

It's that position we need to get sorted above all else. No side will achieve anything without a good goalkeeper - because a bad goalkeeper unsettles the defence and hence, everything else. But it's not as easy as some might imagine to find the right one. To me, that's the number one priority. 

The bold part is pretty much nonsense.

[The Wrinkly Ninja]

2 hours ago, Pasquale for King said:

It’s actually shocking watching us and nobody else does this, what does it say about the coaching? Our crossing is usually awful

bit it’s not easy to hit a guy that’s behind two CHs, just tell them to hit hard and low and get to the front post. When Kyle Walker signed for City everyone laughed because he can’t cross the ball, Pep tells him hard and low across the 6 yard line, “half a goal” he calls it and his assists went through the roof. It’s basic stuff, why don’t we do it? That kind of thing frustrates the life out of me at games.

 

So what you are saying is that you wouldn’t take Pochettino as boss because he had a £50 million pound fullback playing for him who he never told to do basic stuff like ‘half a goal’. 

 

Bizarre 

Edited August 5, 2019 by The Wrinkly Ninja

[Pasquale for King]

2 minutes ago, The Wrinkly Ninja said:

 

So what you are saying is that you wouldn’t take Pochettino as boss because he had a £50 million pound fullback playing for him who he never told to do basic stuff like ‘half a goal’. 

 

Bizzare

He clearly isn’t as good a coach as Pep is, did you watch how bad his crossing was for England in Euro 2016? Poch no doubt helped Walker defensively but I didn’t say I wouldn't take him though did i?

[shaun.lawson]

12 minutes ago, siegementality said:

The bold part is pretty much nonsense.

 

The bold part is factually accurate.

 

Did you see what happened to Hearts after Kyle's injury? Or what we were like before signing Beattie? Or after Aguiar left? I could go on.

[The Wrinkly Ninja]

Just now, Pasquale for King said:

He clearly isn’t as good a coach as Pep is, did you watch how bad his crossing was for England in Euro 2016? Poch no doubt helped Walker defensively but I didn’t say I wouldn't take him though did i?

 

So Pochettino couldn't get a £50 million pound fullback to do It..

 

But you still use it a stick to hit Levein with because he is unable to get Michael Smith to perform at the level of Man City?

[shaun.lawson]

17 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

Of course, then good coaching  takes on even more importance. Mulraney said he had to ask the coaches what he had to do to get in the team, they should be telling every player what they need to do to get better. Have you seen the coaches standing around with their hands in their pockets watching training, no paper or IPad taking notes etc. No interaction with the players, same at matches. Compare it to the best, look at Pep. 

 

This is fair comment. Not in comparing it to Pep - but certainly in questioning the coaching staff. It's been unclear to me exactly what they have to offer for quite some time now.

[soonbe110]

18 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

Of course, then good coaching  takes on even more importance. Mulraney said he had to ask the coaches what he had to do to get in the team, they should be telling every player what they need to do to get better. Have you seen the coaches standing around with their hands in their pockets watching training, no paper or IPad taking notes etc. No interaction with the players, same at matches. Compare it to the best, look at Pep. 

You need to get to Oriam and watch a couple of training sessions. They do exactly what you have said they should do. 

[siegementality]

1 minute ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

The bold part is factually accurate.

 

Did you see what happened to Hearts after Kyle's injury? Or what we were like before signing Beattie? Or after Aguiar left? I could go on.

Factually accurate 😂😂😂😂😂

 

Wheres the facts?

[Pasquale for King]

7 minutes ago, The Wrinkly Ninja said:

 

So Pochettino couldn't get a £50 million pound fullback to do It..

 

But you still use it a stick to hit Levein with because he is unable to get Michael Smith to perform at the level of Man City?

He didn’t, take that how you want.

Pep saw he could coach him.

As for Smith hard and low would do him much better, nobody expects him to be at City level.

 

[Gizmo]

2 hours ago, pettigrewsstylist said:

We played about 15 mins football then fell apart. To be expected tbh. Poor tactics at that ground on opening day. Think the score flatters us if we are brutaly honest. Papering over cracks again.

It absolutely did not flatter us. They got a goal and a pen from two mistakes, when else did they threaten? We weren't peppered with near misses and made mistakes under pressure, we just had a young lad being a bit naive and a defender who has the capacity for brain farts, sadly. 

[Pasquale for King]

9 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

This is fair comment. Not in comparing it to Pep - but certainly in questioning the coaching staff. It's been unclear to me exactly what they have to offer for quite some time now.

Obviously comparing to Pep isn’t realistic but if I wanted to be the best coach I would watch the best to try and learn. 

[Rudi5kaceldream1ng]

I personally think we need an August budgement day & I hope she’s already lined up the replacements.

[Pasquale for King]

10 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

You need to get to Oriam and watch a couple of training sessions. They do exactly what you have said they should do. 

How come Mulraney needed to ask then? I’ve seen videos of them standing about doing ****all as training goes on. If they do it then they either don't do it enough or the players aren’t listening because it doesn’t show up on the pitch.

[shaun.lawson]

19 minutes ago, siegementality said:

Factually accurate 😂😂😂😂😂

 

Wheres the facts?

 

Kevin Kyle was injured on 11 January 2011. Before his injury, we'd been on a sensational run which catapulted us, briefly, into title contention. That run stood at 25 points from 9 games, in which he'd scored five times, when he was injured. We scrambled two more wins without playing well immediately afterwards: making it 31 points from 33, our best run since 1997/8.

 

Then we collapsed, and had an eye-wateringly shocking run of 9 points from our last 12 games, in which we almost blew an enormous lead over Dundee United for 3rd. JJ had no Plan B, no way to replace him.

 

Bruno Aguiar was far and away Hearts' most important player in 2008/9: when having started the season with most expecting trouble, we finished 3rd. We had a much better record with him in the side than without him... then he left that summer. The following season, we were appalling, spent much of the first half of the campaign messing around in 9th or so, and Laszlo was correctly sacked at the end of January, 

 

Paulo's side without Rudi doesn't even bear thinking about. You're at it if you think he didn't make an enormous difference. And Beattie got us all believing that instead of our customary fold against Old Firm opponents, we could actually beat them. Which we did: with his half time introduction making all the difference.

 

No Rudi, and we'd have ended up in the bottom six probably. No Rudi and no Beattie = no Scottish Cup.

Edited August 5, 2019 by shaun.lawson

[Pasquale for King]

2 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Kevin Kyle was injured on 11 January 2011. Before his injury, we'd been on a sensational run which catapulted us, briefly, into title contention. That run stood at 25 points from 9 games, in which he'd scored five times, when he was injured. We scrambled two more wins without playing well immediately afterwards: making it 31 points from 33, our best run since 1997/8.

 

Then we collapsed, and had an eye-wateringly shocking run of 9 points from our last 12 games, in which we almost blew an enormous lead over Dundee United for 3rd. JJ had no Plan B, no way to replace him.

 

Bruno Aguiar was far and away Hearts' most important player in 2008/9: when having started the season with most expecting trouble, we finished 3rd. We had a much better record with him in the side than without him... then he left that summer. The following season, we were appalling, spent much of the first half messing around in 9th or so, and Laszlo was correctly sacked at the end of January, 

 

Paulo's side without Rudi doesn't even bear thinking about. You're at it if you think he didn't make an enormous difference. And Beattie got us all believing that instead of our customary fold against Old Firm opponents, we could actually beat them. Which we did: with his half time introduction making all the difference.

 

No Rudi, and we'd have ended up in the bottom six probably. No Rudi and no Beattie = no Scottish Cup.

You have a point about one man teams in the past, Robbo carried us a few times on his own. I think that Naismith is slightly different in that everything good goes through him and he organised and coaches the players constantly, I’m not sure the others did that to the same extent.

[siegementality]

2 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Kevin Kyle was injured on 11 January 2011. Before his injury, we'd been on a sensational run which catapulted us, briefly, into title contention. That run stood at 25 points from 9 games, in which he'd scored five times, when he was injured. We scrambled two more wins without playing well immediately afterwards: making it 31 points from 33, our best run since 1997/8.

 

Then we collapsed, and had an eye-wateringly shocking run of 9 points from our last 12 games, in which we almost blew an enormous lead over Dundee United for 3rd. JJ had no Plan B, no way to replace him.

 

Bruno Aguiar was far and away Hearts' most important player in 2008/9: when having started the season with most expecting trouble, we finished 3rd. We had a much better record with him in the side than without him... then he left that summer. The following season, we were appalling, spent much of the first half messing around in 9th or so, and Laszlo was correctly sacked at the end of January, 

 

Paulo's side without Rudi doesn't even bear thinking about. You're at it if you think he didn't make an enormous difference. And Beattie got us all believing that instead of our customary fold against Old Firm opponents, we could actually beat them. Which we did: with his half time introduction making all the difference.

 

No Rudi, and we'd have ended up in the bottom six probably. No Rudi and no Beattie = no Scottish Cup.

And nothing else contributed to any of the above. Away and don’t talk shite.  Serious question. Off all the seasons you mention, and games you talk about, how many did you actually attend?

[shaun.lawson]

1 minute ago, siegementality said:

And nothing else contributed to any of the above. Away and don’t talk shite. 

 

Oh siege. You'll never change. Football teams without an X-factor rarely achieve very much. Imagine Leicester without Vardy in 2015/16. You reckon they'd have won the league?!

[shaun.lawson]

7 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

You have a point about one man teams in the past, Robbo carried us a few times on his own. I think that Naismith is slightly different in that everything good goes through him and he organised and coaches the players constantly, I’m not sure the others did that to the same extent.

 

He's very unusual in the coaching he does on the pitch, yes. My assumption is that his 4-year deal must be with a view to him getting involved in the coaching side of things. I noticed him instantly berating Dikamona when the pen was given away. 

 

Here's another example for you and @siegementality. Hearts 1998/9 without Colin Cameron and Hearts 1998/9 with Colin Cameron. Good luck to siege in trying to spin his way out of that one! 

Edited August 5, 2019 by shaun.lawson

[Pasquale for King]

Just now, shaun.lawson said:

 

He's very unusual in the coaching he does on the pitch, yes. My assumption is that his 4-year deal must be with a view to him getting involved in the coaching side of things. I noticed him instantly berating Dikamona when the pen was given away. 

Yeah “come on” and talking to Hickey when he was sent off. We used to sit in row 5 in the new stand and his was tho only voice you could hear from the pitch. Unless something drastic happens hopefully he will be a coach then manager eventually. In the meantime for his own sake and the clubs Levein needs to wrap him in cotton wool if that’s possible.

[siegementality]

11 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Oh siege. You'll never change. Football teams without an X-factor rarely achieve very much. Imagine Leicester without Vardy in 2015/16. You reckon they'd have won the league?!

Because Vardy made every goal he scored himself, bossed the midfield, made goal saving clearances, saved shoots bound for the top corner and picked the team every week.

 

Strangely enough Vardy is still at Leicester whilst Ranieri, Konte, Mahrez, etc, have moved on. Remind me what position Leicester have finished since, despite the X factor still being there.

Edited August 5, 2019 by siegementality

[Robbo-Jambo]

3 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

You have a point about one man teams in the past, Robbo carried us a few times on his own. I think that Naismith is slightly different in that everything good goes through him and he organised and coaches the players constantly, I’m not sure the others did that to the same extent.

Naismith does all that you say. 

 

The question is does he have to do as much? 

 

We are very reliant on him as a player in the team but also as coaching, shouting most players throughout the game. 

 

The actions from the dugout are very tame to me compared with Naismiths constant trying to drive the team on. 

 

The coaching staff do not seem to be very vocal on the sidelines preferring to stare at clipboards and mumbling to each other. 

 

They maybe should be taking a leaf out of Naismiths book and drive the team on with encouragement or giving them hell depending on how a game is going. 

 

He should not have the pressure of being a one man team and also to an extent to be a coach as well. 

 

[siegementality]

10 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

He's very unusual in the coaching he does on the pitch, yes. My assumption is that his 4-year deal must be with a view to him getting involved in the coaching side of things. I noticed him instantly berating Dikamona when the pen was given away. 

 

Here's another example for you and @siegementality. Hearts 1998/9 without Colin Cameron and Hearts 1998/9 with Colin Cameron. Good luck to siege in trying to spin his way out of that one! 

Your Jamie Vardy example scuppered your whole argument. No luck required in trying to spin my way out of anything. All I need to do is wait long enough for you to provide a contradictory argument 😂😂😂😂

[shaun.lawson]

3 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

Yeah “come on” and talking to Hickey when he was sent off. We used to sit in row 5 in the new stand and his was tho only voice you could hear from the pitch. Unless something drastic happens hopefully he will be a coach then manager eventually. In the meantime for his own sake and the clubs Levein needs to wrap him in cotton wool if that’s possible.

 

He's also the latest addition to one of my golden rules of football. With the sole exception of the great Jimmy Bone, no player shall play well for both Heart of Midlothian and Norwich City. 

 

Exhibit A Jeremy Goss. Amazing for Norwich, shit for Hearts.

Exhibit B Justin Fashanu. Cult hero for Norwich, shit for Hearts.

Exhibit C Julien Brellier. Cult hero for Hearts, appalling for Norwich.

Exhibit D Steven Naismith Disaster for Norwich, a sensation for Hearts.

Exhibit E Special round of applause please for Darren Beckford. Terrible for Norwich, terrible for Hearts. 

[shaun.lawson]

1 minute ago, siegementality said:

Your Jamie Vardy example scuppered your whole argument. No luck required in trying to spin my way out of anything. All I need to do is wait long enough for you to provide a contradictory argument 😂😂😂😂

 

Oh no it didn't. Because he was in the form of his life. Without his one-off season, Leicester wouldn't have had their one-off season either. 

[Pasquale for King]

8 minutes ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Naismith does all that you say. 

 

The question is does he have to do as much? 

 

We are very reliant on him as a player in the team but also as coaching, shouting most players throughout the game. 

 

The actions from the dugout are very tame to me compared with Naismiths constant trying to drive the team on. 

 

The coaching staff do not seem to be very vocal on the sidelines preferring to stare at clipboards and mumbling to each other. 

 

They maybe should be taking a leaf out of Naismiths book and drive the team on with encouragement or giving them hell depending on how a game is going. 

 

He should not have the pressure of being a one man team and also to an extent to be a coach as well. 

 

Couldn’t agree more, where would we be without him.

[Pasquale for King]

10 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

He's also the latest addition to one of my golden rules of football. With the sole exception of the great Jimmy Bone, no player shall play well for both Heart of Midlothian and Norwich City. 

 

Exhibit A Jeremy Goss. Amazing for Norwich, shit for Hearts.

Exhibit B Justin Fashanu. Cult hero for Norwich, shit for Hearts.

Exhibit C Julien Brellier. Cult hero for Hearts, appalling for Norwich.

Exhibit D Steven Naismith Disaster for Norwich, a sensation for Hearts.

Exhibit E Special round of applause please for Darren Beckford. Terrible for Norwich, terrible for Hearts. 

You missed Aidy Boothroyd, Julien Brellier, Justin Fashanu and Stephen Elliot. 100 lines for that Shaun tsk tsk 😜 

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by Pasquale for King

[siegementality]

15 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Oh no it didn't. Because he was in the form of his life. Without his one-off season, Leicester wouldn't have had their one-off season either. 

Wrong! Vardy wasn’t even the top scorer that season. The key to Leicester’s success was having Vardy and Marez banging goals in. Vardy scorned 24 and Marez 17. No other team had two players banging the goals in like that. As I said your Vardy example is flawed, as is your whole argument.

 

I’m not going to waste half my life replying to every pishy point you make about previous Hearts teams. Suffice to say Hearts were not a one man team in the 80’s. Robbo would not have scored half the goal he did without Sandy Clark and John Colqhoun alongside him. Craig Levein and Sandy Jardine hardly done feck all during that time as well! Craig Levein won the Young Player of the Year Award (twice) and Sandy Jardine won the Player of the Year Award. One man team though eh.

[siegementality]

26 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Oh no it didn't. Because he was in the form of his life. Without his one-off season, Leicester wouldn't have had their one-off season either. 

 

[It should have been ten]

3 hours ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

 

 

[Forever Hearts]

8 hours ago, It should have been ten said:

 

 

 

D E C E N T 

Decent? We were utterly chronic. 

[Maroon Sailor]

8 hours ago, siegementality said:

 

 

Kane should have moved on from Spurs. When you are denied the League title by a club like Leicester then you know it's not going to be any time soon.

 

The only one man team I can think of is Argentina in 1986. An exceptional player who single handedly beat England.

[Bazzas right boot]

9 hours ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Kevin Kyle was injured on 11 January 2011. Before his injury, we'd been on a sensational run which catapulted us, briefly, into title contention. That run stood at 25 points from 9 games, in which he'd scored five times, when he was injured. We scrambled two more wins without playing well immediately afterwards: making it 31 points from 33, our best run since 1997/8.

 

Then we collapsed, and had an eye-wateringly shocking run of 9 points from our last 12 games, in which we almost blew an enormous lead over Dundee United for 3rd. JJ had no Plan B, no way to replace him.

 

Bruno Aguiar was far and away Hearts' most important player in 2008/9: when having started the season with most expecting trouble, we finished 3rd. We had a much better record with him in the side than without him... then he left that summer. The following season, we were appalling, spent much of the first half of the campaign messing around in 9th or so, and Laszlo was correctly sacked at the end of January, 

 

Paulo's side without Rudi doesn't even bear thinking about. You're at it if you think he didn't make an enormous difference. And Beattie got us all believing that instead of our customary fold against Old Firm opponents, we could actually beat them. Which we did: with his half time introduction making all the difference.

 

No Rudi, and we'd have ended up in the bottom six probably. No Rudi and no Beattie = no Scottish Cup.

 

All true. 

 

Barcelona without Messi are a different team. 

Liverpool without Salah. 

Spurs without Kane. 

Madrid without Ronaldo 

Lets see Chelsea without Hazzard. 

 

 

As you say, not only is it not  a CL thing, it isn't even a Hearts thing. 

Key player or in Hearts case key players go missing and any team is effected. 

 

We still maybe left ourselves short of depth and/or never adapted but to dismiss it is put of hand just shows people don't care as long as thier agenda is being fuelled. 

 

[dougal]

We need to find a way of playing that can handle the loss of Naismith. Ideally we won't need to revert to that but it isn't a given that he will stay fit all season. If the current manager and coaches can't get the team to do this or can't get in players who can adapt then it's time for them to move on and for us to get a coaching team in thst can get the team playing without always relying on Naismith.

 

I'm hopeful that with one or two new experienced players they can rally the team like Naismith does even when he's not playing.

[It should have been ten]

5 hours ago, Forever Hearts said:

Decent? We were utterly chronic. 

 

You still here? 

 

[Forever Hearts]

32 minutes ago, It should have been ten said:

 

You still here? 

 

Yip. I'm still here to keep the happy clappers from going overboard about a 3-2 defeat.

[The Real Maroonblood]

Just now, Forever Hearts said:

Yip. I'm still here to keep the happy clappers from going overboard about a 3-2 defeat.

Glorious in defeat.

[It should have been ten]

8 minutes ago, Forever Hearts said:

Yip. I'm still here to keep the happy clappers from going overboard about a 3-2 defeat.

 

You’re “over it” right enough